Floor-clip-making machine



March 10. 1925.

S. E. AND'ERSON RLooR CLIP MAKING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed OgtMarch 10. 1925.

s. E. ANDERsoN FLooR CLIP MAKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 26.11922 3Sheets-Sheet 2 March 10. 1925.

S. E. ANDERsoN Fnoo's CLIP MAKNG MACHINE Filed oct. 26. 1922 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar.. 10, 1925.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

FLOOR-CLIP-MAKING MACHIN Application filed October 26, 1922. Serial No.597,091.

To all whom t may ooncem:

Be it known that I, SIGURD E. ANDERSON,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Des Moines, in thecounty of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new andusefulFloor-Clip-Making Machine, of which the following 1s aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for making floorclips such as are used for spacing and supporting in place the joists orbinder strips used as a foundation for floors in buildings and houses.

More particularly my object is to provide a machine for ma ing clips ofthe type illustratedand described in the prior Patent No. 1,381,740,issued June 14, 1921 to Clyde XV. Prickett.

A further object is to provide a machine wherein a long strip may be fedinto the machine and cutinto suitable lengths and perforated at theirends, provided with triangular shaped notches at their sides and havingtheir respective ends bent and formed into the proper shape by suitablediemechanisms.

Still a further object is to provide such' a machine wherein a part ofthe mechanism for performing thev operation just mentioned will beoperated from a rot'atably reciprocating shaft, and wherein theremainder of the said mechanism will be operated from the vram of thepunch press.

More particularly, my invention contemplates the bending of each lengthof strip around a plate which is then moved away from the strip to allowthe ram to contact with the strip for folding the ends over the centralportion ofthe' strips, and providing a pair of guides wherein-the stripwill slide to position where it wiil he acted upon by a pair of dies forbendingv the folded strip into its final form.

With these and other objects in view, my inveution consists iu theconstruction, arrangcment and combination of the various parts of mydevice, wherehy the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fulljv set forth', pointed out in niy claims, and iilustrated inthe accompanying draw-V ings. in which:

Figura is a front eievation of the ma. chine.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 shows a length of strip such as is used for making the floorclips illustratin the different Operations which are performe upon it.

r-Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a finished c ip.

Figz is a detailed, sectional view through the center of the channelshaped guide member, illustrating the mechanism for perforating,punching, cutting, indenting, and bending the strip.

``Fig. 6 is a detailed, sectional view of'one of the punch members takenonthe line 6-6of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view of the bottom. of a plunger illustrating vthetriangular shaped dies thereon.

Fg. 8 is a sectional view illustrating'the shearing or cutting mechanismtaken on the line 8-8 of Fi 5.

Fig. 9 is a etailed, sectional view illustrating a portion of thebending mechanism and the means for removing the slidable place fromengagement with the strips, taken on the line 9-9 .of Fig. 1.

Fig.l 10 is a perspective view of the bendmg mechanism, parts beingshown in section.

In the use of my presentl invention it is 'desirable to produce clipssimilar to those shown in Fig. 4, which are adaptable to be set into aconcrete bed in rows, and so alined as to form anchorin means for thesleeper strips to which the oor is nailed.

In eneral the clip when laid in the cement is U-shaped, asshown in Fig.4, having the central horizontal member 10 with downwardly hent arms 11,the metal being doubled back upon itself at 12 and having the cars orflaps 18 hent or folded over the back 10 as shown.

After the cement has hardened,` the ears 13 are raised to aperpendicular position, so as to extend above the floor and to provideyoke-shaped anchoring means for a strip of Wood which is to he laidbetween the u 'right cars 13. Nails are driven through t e holes 14 tohold the strips of wood' securely in place.

The clips are placed in the fioor in rows spaced apart and the woodenstrips then providea very rigid foundation for a floor.

It is necessary that the'ears 13 be hent shown at A in Fi'g. 3. The.

over, as shown in Fig. 4, in order that they will not form obstructionsto the workmen crossing the concrete bed prior to the time of layin thewooden floor.

In orer to faciltate the pushing of the clips into thecement, it isdesirable to taper the lower ends of the arms 11 as shown at 15. `It isalso necessary to provide the pro- -truding that the clip will remainsecurely embedded in the cement.

I will now explain the 'diflerent steps necessary in order to producethe finished clips from a long strip of metal, a portion of gu which isshown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 illustrates a section of the strip as it would appear afterhaving been made into a complete clip and then straightened out into itsoriginal form.

In my machine the holes 14 are first punched in the strip 'in groups offour groups of holes are spaced from each other, a -distance equal tothe length of one section of strip.

vAt the same time the notches 15a which produce thebeveled portions 15are cut in the section of strip just ahead of the mechanism whichpunches the holes at A, and the section of strip preceding the lastmentioned section is severed from the strip, as at B.

During the continuing operationsthe ends of each section will bebent'first on the lines C to form a flat folded ortion of a strip withthe portions 12 an 13 on each side folded over the middle portion 10.During the same operation the members 16 will be unched by suitable diemechanisms and finally the outer ends of the folded st-rip will be bentdownward on the lines D'to form a complete clip as shown in Fig. 4. a

The machine is constructed generally in the form of a punch press havinga base 20 with the inclined bed 21 for receiving the lower dies and alarge part of the mechanism for perforating, punching and bending thestrip.

The base 20 has the upwardly extending arms 22 having vat the topsthereof the bearings 23 which journal a crank shaft 24. At one end ofthe crank` shaft 24 is the pulley 25which is driven by a belt 26. On theother end of the Crank shaft 24 is a circular plate 27 having in itsouter face a cam slot 28.

` J ournalled at the center of the crank shaft 24 is a pitman 29 onwhich is resiliently mounted the ram 30 which is designed to receive onits lower face the die members for performing the desired Operations.

The ram 30 travels up and down in the guides 31 which form part of thearms 22. Qn the outer face of the guides 31 on the same side of themachine as the plate 27 are mounted two bearing members 32 designed toreceive the connecting rod 33.

cone shaped members 16 in order same side of the machine as the plate 27is mounted a short lever 38 which is connected to the rod 33 by a shortlink 39.

On the other end of the shaft 37 is an eccentric pin 40 (Fig. 5). Fixedto the bed 21 below the pin 40 is a bracket 41 which is 1designed tosupport 'a channel shaped for the perforating mechanism which I will nowdescribe.

The bracket'41 has an upwardly extending sleeve 43 in which is mountedthe plunger 44 having the perforating pins or die members 45. Theplunger 44 has the bifurcated portion 46 at its upper end designed toreceive a connecting rod 47, which is pivoted to the plunger 44 by meansof the pin 48,

" and which is pivoted at its upper end on the pin 40.

In the bracket 41 are 'the die holes 49, de-

signed to register with the pins 45 for forming the matrix therefor. ltwill be noted that the upper face ofthe bracket 41 forms a continuationof the guide member 42.

Spaced slightly from the perforating mechani'sm just 'described is apunch mechanism E which is composed of the bracket 50 having theupwardly extendingsleeve 51 desi ned to receive the plunger 52.

ccentrically mounted on the shaft 37 above the plunger 52 (Fig. 5) is adisk`53 and journalled on the annular face of the disk 53 is the'connecting rod 54 which is pivoted in the upper portion of the plunger52 by the pin 55.

' Spaced from the punch mechanism E just described, is an identicalpunch F, the parts of which are referred to by numbers the same as thoseused in describing the punch E. The plunger 52 has at its lower endtriangular shaped die members 56 which are arranged transversely on thelower face of the plunger 52 with their apexes facing each other asshown in Fig. 7.

Below the die members 56 and in the brackets 50 are triangular shapedlnotches 57 designed to register with the die members 56 and to providethe. matrix therefor.

Spaced slightly from the punch niech-.1- nism F is a bracket 58. havingthe transverse slot`59 in its lower portion and having the bridge-shapedupWardly-extending member 60 which connects the two port-ions fori'nedby the slot 59. The bridge 60 has a foride member 42 and also to form amatrix Inu shaped lever having the forwardly extend-A .end the arm 65 iscurved for a short distance on an are of a circle having the shaft 37 asits center. This' portion of the lever I have designated with thenumeral 69.

The lever is bent forwardly below the portion 69 to provide the camsurfaces 70, and therebelow the lever is curved as at 71 on an arc whichhas the shaft 37 as its center when the arm 65 i's moved rearwardly.

It may be mentioned here that the cam faces 70 are designed to be acteduponby the inner roller 68 when the bifurcated arm 67 moves downwardly.This movement causes the arm 65 to be moved rearwardly until the roller68 contacts with the 'curved portion 71 when the arm 67 will remainstationary until the lever 67 has moved back to the'cam faces 70.

It will be noted that an intermittent motion is thus provided, forraising the arm 64 at the proper time, in order that the lower cuttingblade 72 which is mounted on the outer endof the arm 64, may engage theupper cutting blade 62 in order to shear the strip G. w

It will be noted that the guide member 42 is continued from the bracket41 to the bracket 58, the bottom of the channel-shaped member beingremoved as at 73 in order to allow for the punching dies already de-,

scribed.

I will now describe the mechanism for bending the strip. Mounted on thebed 21 is a block 74 which is cut away as at 75 and 75a. The remainingportion of the block 74 I will designate by the numeral 76.'

Mounted in the portion 76 are thepins 77 which have conical heads 78.There are two sets of the pins 77, one at each side of the portion 76and there are four pins lto each set.

A supporting plate 79 is resiliently mounted above the portion 76 'andhas the same longitudinal and lateral dimensions a's the portion 76.Springs 79a are provided to hold the plate 79 at the proper position sothat its upper face will be on a level with the channel-shaped guide 42.

Openings 80 are .provided in the plate 79 which register with the pins77 and into which the pins 77 project. A- forming plate 81 is providedwhich has at its center the rearwardly extending tail member 82 which isslidably mounted in a slot 83 in the block 74.

Through a slot 84 in the tail piece 82 there is mounted the guide bolt85 which hoids the plate 81,111 position. The'formmg' plate 81 is spaceda sufi'icient distance above the plate 79 so that the strip Grl may bereceived between the plates.

It may be mentioned here that a section of strip after being cut off isdesigned to have its ends bent upwardly around the ends of the plate 81as a die, and that the plate 81 is then designed to be withdrawn fromover the` center of the section of stri in order that the ends may beflattened ddwn against the middle.

I will now describe the mechanism for' performng this latter operation.Mounted on the bed 21 at one end, and the guides 31 Ci at the other end,are the brackets 86 which arelspaced from each other adjacent to thesides of the block 74. i

Mounted near the center of the brackets 86 and spaced slightly above andforwardly of the shaft 37 is a rock shaft 87. Near i the center of theshaft 87 is loosely mounted The rocker in the cam slot 93. The lower endof the cam slot 93 is oflset as at 96.

It will be seenv that as the ram 30 travels downwardly the rocker arm 88will remain stationaryl until the roller 95 reaches the offset portion96 of the cam slot 93. The rocker arm will then be rotated on its axis,thus drawing the plate 81 forwardly.

A pair of shafts 97 are mounted on the 'block 74111 the Slots 98 which,are Semi-Circular in cross section and are held'in lace by bearing caps99. The shafts 97 a-ve the rearwardly extending turning members 100which are formed as part of the shaft by -cutting away three-quar'tersof the shaft, theremainin quarter being the 'lower outside quarter s heforward ends of the shafts 97 have pinion teeth' 101 cut therein andrack bars.

ee Figs. 10 vand 5).

102 are extended through slots 103 and 104 in the cap 99 and block 74respectively.

The rack bars 102 are designed to mesh with the pinion teeth 101.

Short levers 105 are mounted on the shaft 37 above the rack bars 102.The levers 10:) extend in the opposite direction from the 'lever orbifurcated arm 67. The links 106 connect the ends of the lever 105 withthe rack bars 102.

It will be seen that as the shaft 37 is rotated in the directionindicated by the arrow 107 in Fig. 9, the rack bars 102 will be pulled iupwardly and the turning members 100 will lio be rotated in thedirection indicated by the larrow 108 in Fig. 5. It may be mentionedhere that the upper faces of the turning members 100 are arranged on alevel with the upper face of the plate 79 and both of the channelmembers 42.

A gauge 109 is mounted on the bed 21 and so positioned that when thestrip G is inserted in the machine the end of the strip under thepunches E and F between the blades of the shearing mechanisrn andhetween the plates 79 and 81 near the end of the strip and is stopped bythe gauge 109.

It w1ll be seen that the channel shaped guide member 42 will enable thestrip to be thus rapidly inserted in the machine. It may be mentionedhere that strips of a con'- venient length are used and must be threadedvery often into themachine.

The parts are so arranged that as the cam slot 28 forces the link 33downwardly it will cause the shaft 37 to rotate in `the directionindicated by the arrow 107 in Fig. 9. The perforating mechanism, the twopunches, and the shearing mechanism will first punch and shear the stripleaving a portion between the plates 81 and 79 severed from theremainder. These first four elements perform their Operationssimultaneously.

An instant after the section between the plates 81 and 79 has beensevered, the turning' member 100 will have rotated enough to engage theends of the severed section and bend them upwardly and will continue torotate until the ends of the section have assumed the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 5.

As soon as the ends of the section have taken this position the ram 30will have descended enough so that the rocker arm 88 is moved and theplate 81 withdrawn from over the section of strip. The lower end of theram has a portion 110 extended forwardly under the shaft 37. As soon asthe plate 81 has been completely withdrawn the lower face of the portion110 will contact with the ends of the section and press them downwardlyuntil they are folded i flat across the central portion of the section.

The plate 79 will, in the meantime, be

ressed downwardly under the pressure and will allow the pins 77 toprotrude and form the indentations 16.

Dies 111 are formed in the lower face of i Fig. 9. The plate 112 engagesthe upwardly extending ends of the section so that when the plate 81 iswithdrawn the sevel'ed' section of the stripI G remains unmoved.v

After the operations just described have "taken place and as the ram 30moves upwardly, the' plate 81 will move back and push the folded striprearwardly in the maehine into the slots 113 of the .receiving guides114. .Theguides are so positioned that the slots 113 will register withthe edge of the plate 79.' The .folded strips will ordinarily slide bytheir own weight into the Islots 113, the bed 21' of the entiremechanism being ltilted for that urpose.

However, if the fo ded strip should stick, the plate 81 will push it onits return movement and push it out of the way. The guides 114 havelaterally project-mg portions 115 to form stops or gauges for the strip.

A block 116 is mounted in the bed 21 midway between the guides 114 andso positioned that the folded strip will be centered thereover when itis stopped by the gauges 115. It will be noted that the inner sideof thereceivng guides 114 are out away opposite the lateral sides of the block116 so that thel folded strip, when it assumes its final position, isresting on the block 116 alone.

A matrix embodying a pair of lugs 117 is provided on the face of the ram30, and the lu s 117 are spaced to loosely fit over the 'si es of theblock 116.

Raised letters. V118 may be provided on the lower face of the ram 30etween the lugs 117 in order to impress on the upper face of 'one of theflaps 13 of the clip, any printed matter, which may be desired, such asfor instance the word Patented 1922, etc., as shown at 119 in Fig. 4.

As the ram 30 descends and as the previously described Operations takeplace upon a severed section and on the end of the re-l maining portionsof a strip, the lugs 117 will force the projectin ends of the foldedstrip downwardly to orm the completed floor clip.

It may be mentioned that the lugs 117 are of such lengths that they willnot contact with the block 116. As the lugs 117 force the ends of thefolded strip downwardly, these ends will enter the slots 120 which arearranged adjacent to the side of 1,aso,887

zhe block 115 and extend rearwardly therefrom.

As the next folded strip passes downwardly to position over the block,the com'-' pleted clip will be moved off the block and will slide in thegrooves 120 to any' suitable receptacle.

It will be seen that I have provided, a machine in which the 'Operationsof perforating, unching, indenting, bending, and rebending the clipsuccessively take place and in which a long strip of metal ma be fed andconverted into finished clips. e clips may be turned out at the samerate as any simple stamping which is made in an ordinary punch press.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of thevarious parts of my invention, without depart'ng from the real spiritand purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover'by myclaims, any7 modified forms of structure or use of mechanical'equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

i claim as my invention:

- 1. In a machine for making finished floor clips from a strip of metal,a base, a guide for supporting the strip, a shaft mounted above theguide, means for imparting rocking movement to the shaft, 'a perforatingmechanism disposed above the uide and operably connected with the shafor perforating a plurality of holes in the strip, means operablyconnected with the shaft for cutting lthe strip into lengths, meansoperably connected with the shaft for bending the ends of each stri atsubstantiall right angles to the centra portion thereo ,w

means for folding the ends flat against the central portion, and meansfor bendin the end portions thus formed at right ang es to the remainingcentral ortion, the sald end portions to be bent in t e oppositedirection to the bending of the ends of the original length of stri 2.In a maciine for making finished floor clips from a strip of metal, abase, a guide for supportin the strip, a shaft mounted above thev gui e,means for imparting rocking movement to the shaft, means operablyvconnected with the shaft for cutting the strip into len ths, means oerably connected with the s aft for ben ing the endsof each strip atsubstantially right angles to' adapted to Vertical reciprocatingmovement above the bed, an element for supportmg a strip, a gage spacedlaterally for properly positionmg 'the strip over said supportinelement, a movable plate spaced above sai supporting. element, turningmembers arranged at the ends of the plate for. bending the ends of astrip inserted between the plate and the supportin member, the movableplate being adapte to slide back from 76 engagement with the strip, andthe ram b eing adapted to fiatten the ends o f the str 1p against themiddle while *the plate is in its receded position. V v

4. Ina machine for making finished floor 80 clips from a. strip 'ofmetal, a bed, a ram adapted to reciprocate vertically above the bed, laresiliently mounted plate on the bed for sup rtingo a strip, a movableplate above sald supporting plate, means for bending the ends of a stripof metal received between the plates around the ends of the movableplate as a die, the ram being adapted to flatten the ends of the'stripupon the middle, the movable plate being adapted to recede from contactwith the strip for this purpose, and means for forming lugs on thefolded strip, said means including pins mounted be'- low' theresiliently mounted plate, said plate havin openings for allowing the'pins to pass ough the plate when it' is depressed, the ram havingmdentations in its lower face s aced to register with the pins anddesign to form wlth the pins a set of dies. p

'5. Ina machine for making finished floor clips from a strip of metal,an 'inclin'ed bed, means for folding the ends of -a' strip of metal overthe middle thereof, a block mounted on the bed below said folding. wmeans, a ram, a matrix on the lower face 'thereof and designed to bendthe ends of the folded strip over the block as a die, the folded stripbeing adapted to slide by gravity to position over the die.

6. In a machine for making finished floor clips from a strip of metal,an inclined bed, meanslfor folding the ends of a stri of metal over themiddle thereof, a lilock mound on the bed below said foldfilg means, aram, a matrix on the lower face thereof and designed to bend the ends ofthe folded strip over the block as a die, the folded strip bemg adaptedto slide by gravity' to posrtron over the die, and means for impressmletterin upon the upper face of thev 12 upper olded en o the strip.

7. In a. machine of the class described, mechamsm for punching andcutting stri s 'of the desired length from a, strip 'for ma.

in floor clips, sa1d mechanism including a be a shaft arranged above thebed and arallel thereto, means for imparting roc g movement to theshaft, a pair of dles adapted to unch groups of four holes at points spalong-the 'length of' the strip, vtwo "o vpairs of dies adapted to cuttriangular portions from the sidesof the strip and shearing mechanismfor cutting the stripv into lengths 8. In a machine of the classdescribed, mechanism for punching and cutting strips of the desiredlength from a strip for making fioor clips, said mechanism including abed, a shaft arranged above the bed and parf allel thereto, means forimparting rotat-ing reciprocal movement to the shaft, a pair` of diesadapted to punch four holes at lpoints equidistantly spaced along thelength of the strip, two pairs of dies adaptecl to c'ut tri angularportions from the sides of the strip at points spaced from the saidholes, and shearing mechanism for cutting the strip into lengths, said'mechanism including a fixed knife adapted to engage the upper side ofthe strip, a moving knife below the strip,

said moving knife being mounted on a bellcrank lever, an arm'fixed tothe s'haftl and ex,- tending to the end of the bell crank level',rollers thereon for engaging the lever, the upper end of the level'having cam surfaces so arranged that when the arm swings downwardly thelever will be moved to position for Cutting .the strip.

9. In a device of the class dscribed, :1

a base, an inclined bed thereon, a ram, mechanism for bending lengths ofstrips into fioor clips, said mechanism including guide means forholding the strip in position, a plate positione-d over the center ofthe strip, rotatable members at the ends' thereof for bending the endsof the strips at right angles to the center portion thereof around theends of the plate as a forming die, means for mov ing the plate to aposition where the strip is exposed, the ram being adapted to flattenthe ends of'the strip against the central portion thereof after theplate has been moved away from the strip, a block mounted on the bed.

below the mechanism just described, guide members for conveyingl thefolded strip to a position centered over the block, and a matrix on thelower face of the ram for bending the' folded ends of the strip down inthe directiono posite to that in which the original ends are nt.

Des Moines, Iowa, June 21, 1922.

SIGURD E. ANDERSON.

